Ill.thmnu malum ;tml // p,;n,',„m 

 In more open areas I'tt'tulmm flSTH- 

 h-nfum was present, with frhttfo 

 lint ttnlnlium S. hiuitix and occasion- 

 ally (he Bern H\stit'it<nis utiisa, I On 

 the river flats and some cleared hill- 

 sides I he dominant vegetation was 

 Pntidium CM ttlcnttim) . In these 

 more open areas the eround cover 

 species included Pruiulla wWei/m, 

 Attirini ttiiM'tinilDliti. iiiiiiniiim ft) 

 and IhtlitHoiylr sp. In very moist 

 situations ihe small fcins Hhthnmn 

 lluvLitalf and li. (i[>#n> unlit Were 

 occasionally present, lou.cthei wilh 

 sedges and rushes such as ( Vnv.t 

 <if>i>rcs.\a and Jiinrnx prottitn, 



Several other species of small lei- 

 iesiri.il mammal were piescut in the 

 scrub zones within the plauiainui 

 The most abundant of these was the 

 hush rat. Rutins tlistftpfj ti.\Kimili\. 

 the swamp rat, K. luireulu* was com 

 mon in some situations, and the 



tryroduccd rodents n. tfutu* and \tus 



nttiMiilti\ were in small numhers. 

 particularly in the vicinity of the 

 borest ( uinniission camp site at the 

 Aire River I wo small dasyurid mar- 

 supials. Antecliinm Minn in ,ind A 

 Watnf0R{i were fiiirlv ominwii In 

 1962 the aulhor trapped a poloroo, 

 PfUlifrQW tipinilii, alony one of ihe 

 main un. inled cieeks which Iced lite 

 Aire River, about J.dkm £1 mil 

 from the forestry camp. Black walla- 

 bies. Wathihm btvolor and ringtail 

 possums. P.utnJiii heiru* fjjrWtftffcjtf 

 were also found in the area. 



'J. Btm\irrin 



Hcnvsernn. 35.5 km (22 into] north 

 nasi ol Aire \ alley is ,ii an altitude 

 of about BOO ni ( :i)H() II ) A S I i lal 

 !') ■<,. long. l4.r56'Ri. In June 

 LS70i mcmbeis of Ihe Mammal Sur- 

 vey Group. F.N.C.V.. eollceted an 

 .idult female Mtiuucumy\ In.uits dui- 

 rug exploratory trapping "Ihe locality 

 was about 4.8 kin f3mlsi south ni 



318 



Bcnwvtim liiiunon, on the Mi> Un , 

 fosvhv Koad Ihe physical <'har; t i 

 tenstiys ol the area - soil and c|ii n . 

 ale — are probably similar in ihox 

 at Aire \ alios though the lamfall ,. 

 somewhai less. probably between | M\ 

 and I 50 cm per annum. 



Ihe vegetation was a faiily oper 



uanepiwd Ebresi, dominated at higjns 



levels by tall 125-30 in) l.itc„ly plm 

 nbluitiu, with scattered /-.. pyptlto 

 i ni i>n. To the south down a faith 

 steep slope /:. C${)*lhP<ltp4 became 

 more dominant The lorest has hem 

 kkggSld in the past .,nd most irecs 

 did not eveced 45 tm in trunk di,, 



there was a tall shrub lnyci 

 present, ranging m height from ?.5 

 3 rti ( omposilion ol this lavei \aned 

 with altitude and degree ol disturh 

 ance bv man Near the road it svii. 

 predoitimantlv Attn in ><i lie llltthi but 

 luilher downhill .mas dominated I' 

 Cmsiniu lonxijaliti and Auniu urn, 

 rifliin occurred Under Ihe I 7 , fpeNc 

 fWKW "1 the weiiei gnllv are., MflQ 

 tree Icrns, c \mluo wixiuiliw sverv 

 present Other shrub species were sot- 

 lercd Ihroughout — Poimnti >n\ input 

 OI.;itin ni un/>h\ Hit ami /rem Htn'ii,, 



and many saplings of the cuealyri 

 species were present. I owei shriifo 

 included Spvridiitm [>nr<itlt>iti\. hit, 

 , tiMliont and Cntiditiin o\-tini, hui 

 the dominant feature of the Iowa 

 levels was Teirurrlit iiti jimtrit. whicli 

 was generally ;.h.ni| I 2-| 5 m hint, 

 and formed a more or less contimiuits 

 held layer Scattered ihnHi.afnnit were 

 a number of other loss •t'rossiriy specie: 



St'tn i in linrniiinlius I often forinin: 

 law clumps). Lifftdaspttfnh V 

 nimitltn rasnumhtt and the Urn- 

 VWctmum >}>«ft»n, Pterutlim eviiln, 

 mm (which was more comma* 

 towards Ibe rssadt, polystii hum pfdrV- 

 it'iuin and OccasiOttallv Hy\ii,<n»'\- 

 iitiisu. Ground plants were presenr m 

 soin,; open patches, e.g.. (--,.-• 



Vicf. Mai Vol S6 



